In a called meeting Tuesday, the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education unanimously approved the establishment of a Personal Leave Bank.

The Personal Leave Bank, which is closely modeled after the already existing Sick Leave Bank, will allow school system employees to donate one personal day per school year to a bank from which other employees can apply to withdraw between one and 10 days on an emergency basis.

The decision to establish such a bank for personal days comes in response to the recent tornado ripping through Spalding County and impacting a number of staff members in various ways.

Griffin-Spalding County Schools Director of Human Resources Stephanie Dobbins explained that the school system didn’t have a policy that addressed extended absences due to catastrophic events. As a result, any absences for personal reasons beyond the three days allotted to staff members per school year would have resulted in leave without pay.

The board waived the second reading of the appropriate policy to make the Personal Leave Bank available to employees immediately, as many of them work their last day on May 27.

“We thought this would be a good policy to have in place,” said Dobbins.

Any application from a school system employee for withdrawal of personal days will go before the Personal Leave Bank Committee. The nine-member panel will then vote on the application within 15 days of receiving it.